Christmas For Hanukah
by Rubbertoebehe
Summary: At nine years old Finn gives Puck his first Christmas.


"I don't celebrate Christmas, Finn. Why did you bring that?" Puck said half-heartedly. He stood in the threshold of the front door, hanging childishly on the knob, looking at the young boy before him, but frequently glancing at the present wrapped in Santa Claus and reindeer, powder-red paper that Finn held in both his hands. Gloveless, the color had been stripped from his hands holding on to the present.

Christmas Eve was only a day away that morning; it was a dull grey, cloud-covered day. It was especially cold and the snow thickly blanketed the lawns and rooftops. Finn walked through the icy weather and slush that wasn't yet shoveled in his only clean jacket (which happened to be the thinnest one he had unfortunately) and jeans. He wanted to give Noah Puckerman, the new kid in their third grade class that year, the boy that was picked on for his Mohawk and his ratty clothes, his Christmas present from him.

"I uh," Finn began, but his words were chattering in his chest, partly because of his nervousness, but also because he was chilled to the core. "Everyone is celebrating Christmas and I remember hearing you saying how you don't," he said looking into the boy's eyes now, "so I wanted to make sure you got something."

He waited for Puck to answer, looking for any inflection of happiness or gratitude. Puck was unsure what to say. He looked back behind him to check that no one was coming. Then he turned to face Finn again. "I do get stuff for Hanukah too you know," he said quietly, not sounding as harsh as Finn knew he could be. The two of them were the closest friend in their class, growing attached to each other not two weeks after Puck transferred to McKinley Elementary. Finn was always there for him when he would get slack for doing poorly on assignments or just looking strange.

"Well you wouldn't get anything from Santa and I…I just wanted you to have something…from me." Puck appeared to be confused, but he did tease him, he wouldn't dare to tease him ever. He never had a friend that got him presents like this for him. Looking back one final time to check if anyone was near he grabbed Finn's shoulder and led him to his room.

Finn had never actually been inside Puck's house before. It was small. Crowded was maybe more appropriate. Going up the stairs to Puck's room Finn caught sight of the living room, how it was packed with boxes and old furniture. T.V trays lined each cushion of the sofa with some sort of used dish on each. Messy was also probably an appropriate term.

Once entering his room Puck let Finn in and immediately closed the door behind them. Finn stood in the middle of the cramped space, looking at the small yet tidy area it was. It was definitely different from the interior he saw moments before.

Still taking his time to observe the room he was startled by Puck's voice. "Yeah it's my room, it's not a big deal," he said sheepishly as he spoke. "You can put it on the bed, if you want." Finn glanced back to see Puck looking away, gripping the nape of his neck before placing the wrapped present on the bed. He then hopped up on the mattress and began to rub his stiff fingers together. Puck's scrutiny of him making himself at home went unnoticed by Finn. He grinned as he watched him.

After a few seconds of silence he spoke up. "You don't really know what Hanukah is, do you?" Puck said casually. Looking up, Finn breathed hotly into his cupped hands and shook his head innocently. Puck continued after suppressing the urge to giggle at how Finn looked doing that movement.

"Just because I don't get presents from Santa, who by the way is—" he was about to say it—Santa isn't real—when he saw Finn's eyes staring at him as he spoke. The way he was looking at him, really listening to him, made him stop. Finn never stood up and fought anyone off for him, like he needed it, but Finn— nice, sweet…cute Finn—was always by his side. He would talk to him when it wasn't the cool thing to do. He would even fail a test with him just so Puck wasn't the only one that didn't get multiplication after going over it for so long.

Finn didn't say a word, waiting for him to finish, rubbing his hands against his thighs for warmth. After stalling for a moment he continued. "Who…must be doing something right, Santa, getting all those presents to kids in one night. It don't mean kids that don't get stuff from him will be presentless."

Puck walked a few steps closer, now leaning against the wall next to the head of his bed. There wasn't a spare chair, there wasn't much room to sit, but he didn't want to move the present; it looked so wonderful and crisp.

Finn watched him move closer to the bed and saw Puck look at him sitting there. "I don't really know what Hanukah is," Finn said, "but I know that it's the Christmas spirit to give," he said cutely. "It's not Christmas till the day after tomorrow, but you should open it for Hanukah." He lifted the gift and handed it to Puck.

Puck stared at the rectangular box and his chest swelled with mostly anticipation, but also affection. Slowly he took the tightly wrapped box from Finn's hands; they were still a bit nipped. Still staring at it he hopped up onto the bed and opened it. Inside he found an assortment of CD's, movies, and video games. "I…Finn, what is all this?"

Looking at him, Puck saw him turn suddenly red. His cheeks weren't rosy simply from the chilly weather anymore. Finn looked away with embarrassment as he spoke. "I didn't have much money so I went around our house and put some cool things in a shoe box. If you don't have a DVD player you can come over to my house and we can watch that Bruce Lee movie or Die Hard or any other movies you want to see. They're all really good." He began to speak quicker as he went on, excited. "And I hope you don't have a KISS greatest hits CD already, and Street Fighter is so fun! My favorite guy to use is the—" Without warning Finn was cut off by Puck's sudden gripping hug.

For a long time Puck hugged him and Finn let him. Puck suddenly pulled away; the same florid shade Finn wore before flooded his face. "I uh…sorry," he said, "thank you. I can't believe you would give all this great stuff to me, you really don't have to!"

"It's cool, I've watched and played with all that stuff. What's the use in me having it all if it goes unused. Keep it." Finn smiled as he finished speaking, continuing to look into Puck's eyes.

Looking back down at the menagerie of games and discs, all in their opened packages, he spoke. "So…I've never seen this movie before," he said as he pulled out Pokémon the First Movie.

"Want to watch it at my place?" Finn said immediately, joy shining off him. It was infectious.

"Totally!" Puck said. Grabbing the box Puck walk down the stairs with Finn behind him. Telling his mother he was going out with his friend to play they walked back to Finn's house. Holding the box in his right arm he looked at Finn as they walked. "I've never really done Christmas before, but this will always be my favorite! Thanks again."

Looking back at him, Finn said nothing. He only looked away and grabbed Puck's free hand. He squeezed it softly, sending feeling through Puck's nerves regardless of the numbing weather; Puck saw Finn's face turn that florid shade again, but he knew it wasn't only from the cold. As they walked he didn't let go of Finn's hand, his fingers intertwining with his own. As they walked they didn't speak either, only intermittently squeezing each other as they went on.


End file.
